Delft – Bike buying guide

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Key things about buying a bike in Delft

• There is a shortage of bikes during August & September since all the shops take their available cycles to see at TU Delft’s Bike sale in the mid of August! So your best bet is to visit bike sale at TU Delft. (I personally feel sometimes the prices here are high in this sale)
• Don’t be in a hurry to get a bike. I know all of your friends have it, but lets take it slow.
• It’s a one time investment. Hence take your time and look for the one that suits you.
• I have written an article on buying a second hand bike – click here.
• Its better to look for a bike good condition now than run around fixing your broken bike later!!
  
  IMPORTANT: It takes time to find a good bike in Delft. You will have to put some time into going to these shops and looking for one. Or you will have to look online a lot. So if you are in a hurry and desperate, visit one of these shops mentioned below.

Bike shops in Delft

1. Stitching Stunt (personally tested)

Average bike prices : 80 – 180 Euros
Buying experience rating(1-10) : 8
Repair experience rating(1-10) : 8 [Cheap & Affordable repairs]
After sales support (1-10) : 9
Trust Rating: 8

Personal remarks:

One of the best – all rounder bike shop in Delft. If my friend are in trouble and I personally can’t help them, I first ask them to take it to this shop. The people are nice here and ready to help. Bonus if you buy a bike here, they sometimes even fix small stuff for free. 8-10 of my friends have bought their cycles here

Stitching means “non-profit”. Hence I feel that the bikes sold here are fairly priced. Also, I absolutely love the vibe of this place. There is a cafe (a nice date place i would say), a woodworking shop, sewing shop and much more fun stuff. I would definitely recommend everyone living in Delft to visit here.

The only downside of this shop is that its far away from city center and you might have to take a bus and then walk to this place :/ . If you do make it to this place, say hi to Jim & Jan !

2. Delftse Bike Center (tested with friends)

Average bike prices : 80 – 180 Euros
Buying experience rating(1-10) : 7
Repair experience rating(1-10) : 5 [Expensive repairs]
After sales support (1-10) : 7
Trust Rating: 7

Personal remarks:

If you are in a hurry and need a cycle or a quick repair – This is the shop you go to. The shop is conveniently located at De-hoven passage. The only downside is that for a student, the repair costs at this place might be out of reach sometime.

3. Brik-Fit Delft (personally tested)

Average bike prices : 80 – 180 Euros
Buying experience rating(1-10) : 8
Repair experience rating(1-10) : No personal Experience
After sales support (1-10) : 7
Trust Rating: 7

Personal remarks:

First of all, this is another non-profit place in Delft and I absolutely love the concept the idea behind this place. There are providing a workspace for specially abled people to find their place in the society and give them a chance to join the normal workforce.

I think this is where I found the cheapest cycles in Delft. I repeat, the cheapest not the best. But sometimes my friends have found great cycles in good condition for 100 euros or less. So when you planning to buy a bike, give them a visit.

4. Bike Kitchen on the move (personally tested)

Average bike prices : 60 – 180 Euros
Buying experience rating(1-10) : 8
Repair experience rating(1-10) : 9 (Its promised to be great place for repairing)
After sales support (1-10) : No personal Experience
Trust Rating: 7

Personal remarks:

I accidentally stumbled upon this place while I was biking back home one day. Its a small initiative by two people and their aim is to make women & students more independent through bikes.

I found really great bikes for really really cheap prices. Like 60-80 euro cheap for a road bike. Also, the owner of this initiative promised that if students buy cycles from them, they can come and repair their own cycles at the workshop at any time.

They are also looking for volunteers to help out with their initiative to spread awareness about bikes and how to repair them on your own. Please do check out their initiative here.

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—– Online platforms —–

Note:

• Looking for bikes online is always tricky.
• You need to know what exactly are good bikes or well priced bikes.
  • Maybe check my second hand buying guide here, and then try to look for signs of good maintenance(still risky).
• The main risk of looking for cycles online is that you cannot always figure out if the cycle is the right size for you. You definitely need to go check it out in person before buying to make sure.

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5. Marktplaats (personally tested)

Average bike prices : 20 – 500 Euros
Buying experience rating(1-10) : 5
Repair experience rating(1-10) : Not available
After sales support (1-10) : None
Trust Rating: 6

Personal remarks:

I found Monty(my sweet bike) here on this website. Its one of the most used 2nd hand/Used market website in Netherlands. You can find people just giving away cycles for free sometimes. If you know how to look for good cycles by just photos, then its a nice website to browse for cycles.
You can apply filters to look for cycles being sold nearby where you live. You have to spend some time browsing and looking through cycles before you find good deals. Even if you do, the size of cycles might be not for you. So be careful!!

6. Facebook Marketplace (tested with friends)

Average bike prices : 10 – 1000 Euros
Buying experience rating(1-10) : 4
Repair experience rating(1-10) : Not available
After sales support (1-10) : None
Trust Rating: 5

Personal remarks: